


Snowfall

by orphan_account



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, only vaguely relevant North/Markus, post perfect-pacifist ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-11 04:20:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15307365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Could anyone really blame him for falling in love? Could anyone blame him for being jealous? Despite knowing just about every single weakness Markus possessed, Simon still thought he was perfect.(Basically self-indulgent Simon/Markus fluff)





	1. The Big Book Of 'Just Friends'

**Author's Note:**

> Why isn't there more Simon/Markus content? Y'all are out here making me write this MYSELF. I actually plotted this one out, like, I have a little summary and everything. I know, I know, it's NUTS  
> Oi vey, anyways, this was hard to write and this chapter was unbeta'd so it's gaRBAGE SO enjoy Some Bullshit, kids.

Simon could take a certain measure of pride in being Markus’ closest friend. He was the leader of the revolutions right-hand-man, the man who listened to his stress, who comforted him when things got dark, who knew the weaknesses of Jericho's leader - that was all Simon.

 

They had gotten extremely close, especially now since everything was over. The protests worked, after all, they were free -  _ well…  _ sort of. They were working towards bigger things, there was still so much to do. There were still androids to help, still legislature to pass, and still future battles to be won. 

 

Despite all that, Jericho - really, now the entire android populus, it seemed - was ecstatic about everything that was happening. Everyone could enjoy being alive. 

 

Everyone except for Simon. 

 

It wasn’t that he wasn’t happy - he was! - but he couldn’t bring himself to be quite as happy as the rest of them. He watched them all together, smiling from his place on Markus’ right side, ever reminded of the person to Markus’ left. 

 

Every time he saw the looks Markus and North would cast one another, he felt himself tense up. Every time he watched them kiss, he had to fight to keep his smile steady. Every time he watched them connect, their fingers laced with one another's, he wanted to scream. 

 

Could anyone really blame him for falling in love? Could anyone blame him for being jealous? Despite knowing just about every single weakness Markus possessed, Simon still thought he was perfect.

 

He could ignore the looks they gave each other, he could ignore the jealousy that flared up whenever he watched their lips meet, he could tamp down the festering sadness that came from knowing that he could never be with Markus the way North was.

 

He wanted to be properly bitter, sometimes. He wanted to hate Markus for loving North and hate North for loving Markus back, but he just  _ couldn’t.  _ He saw how Markus looked at her, he knew how happy North made him and he just… Couldn’t. He couldn’t find the will to hate either of them.

 

Markus  _ deserved  _ to be happy, after everything that happened, he deserved that much. 

 

Simon wished, sometimes, that he didn’t feel the way he did, he wished that he could just get Markus off his chest. That feeling hardly lasted very long, inevitably ended at the first sight of Markus’ smile. 

 

As much as it slowly killed him, he was addicted to the jittery feeling that came with hearing Markus’ laugh. It felt so good to feel just plain  _ stupid  _ whenever Markus looked to him in moments of joy. It didn’t  _ matter  _ to Simon, he realized and accepted a long time ago that he was never going to be with Markus.

 

He’d since decided he could settle with loving the leader of the revolution from a distance.

 

Even then, as the two of them sat in the living room of Simons small apartment, he willed himself to feel the  _ distance  _ between them rather than the closeness.

 

He pointedly ignored that their fingertips were barely inches apart, resting over the back of the couch. He ignored the fact that if he really wanted to, he could shift less than a foot over, and he’d be pressed right up against Markus’ side.

 

He was almost hyper-focused on ignoring Markus’ body being real and solid next to him, and he had mentally checked out from the conversation some time ago. 

 

“Simon? Simon!” Markus snapped his fingers a few times in front of Simons face, suddenly far closer than he was a moment ago. “You’ve been really out of it lately, are you okay?” 

 

Simon startled, backing up into the arm of the couch as a feeble attempt of escaping Markus’ worried eyes. 

 

“I’m fine!” His voice came out much higher and far more nervous than he intended it to be, probably only furthering Markus’ suspicions. 

 

The taller android raised an eyebrow in response, “Really?” He said, leaning back into the other arm of the couch. 

 

“ _ Yes, _ ” Simon insisted, crossing his arms, “Really.” 

 

Markus snorted a little at that. “Sure you are.” He adjusted how he was sitting, once more, facing forward once again. He looked back at Simon, who kept himself stuck back at the other end of the couch. “If you wanna talk about it we can.” 

 

Simon said nothing, he wasn’t really sure what he  _ could  _ say without incriminating himself. Markus didn’t push it, Simon didn’t feel any need to tell him. 

 

It was at some point, after that thankfully brief conversation, Simon had met Jason. Another android, very handsome, extremely understanding when Simon, inevitably, couldn’t keep seeing him. 

 

And after Jason there was Paul, Reese, Liam, Jonah…

 

The relationships never lasted very long, anyways. Some weren’t even really proper relationships, Simon met them, fell into their bed, and left the next morning. 

 

Simon didn’t really know  _ why  _ he was doing any of this- well… He did. He knew why he just hated admitting it. He hated admitting that the easiest way to pretend that he didn’t feel anything for Markus was to simply point to his list of  _ other  _ androids that he was oh-so interested in. 

 

Markus asked him about it, one evening, after venting about a particularly bad fight with North.

 

“So… You and Jonah, huh?” His tone was experimental, like he was hoping he wouldn’t sound as judgemental as Simon assumed he felt.

 

“Uh… Yes? What about me and Jonah?” Simon said defensively. He crossed his arms out of habit, letting his fingers dig slightly harder than necessary into his arm. 

 

Markus shifted, leaning back against the kitchen counter. Simon was caught up in watching how the ceiling lights cast shadows across his face, when the other androids voice cut through his thoughts, “Are you two together, now?” 

 

_ Shit-  _

 

Simon irrationally wanted to say  _ no  _ despite the fact that he was one conversation away from being in a committed relationship with Jonah. “Well…”  _ Come on, Simon!  _ “We haven’t really discussed it.” 

 

Markus’ lips pulled into a taut line, brows furrowed, he nodded stiffly. “You two seem… Happy together.” 

 

Simon cringed inwardly, the weight of Markus’ judgement hit him like a ton of bricks. “I guess.”

 

“So you two aren’t?” 

 

“No! No… It’s not that. I just…” He sighed. “I don’t know.” 

 

Markus hummed in response, a short, almost dismissive sound. 

 

The two were silent for a long time, Simon almost wished he could’ve just been deactivated then and there, when Markus finally spoke up.

 

“Wanna go for a walk?” 

 

“Yeah… I think that’d be nice.”

 

Simon nodded quickly, grabbing his coat off the hook in the hallway, casually tossing Markus his. They went for walks all the time, this was familiar, non-threatening. 

 

Simon held the door for Markus on their way out of his apartment, fidgeting with a loose thread on the inside of his coat. He hoped the silence would lighten up a little during the walk itself, as it tended to when things got like this, but he had a sinking feeling Markus wasn’t about to let him go. 

 

His suspicion wasn’t entirely wrong, either.


	2. The Modern Mans Hustle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to [loracarol](https://archiveofourown.org/users/loracarol/pseuds/loracarol) for beta-ing this chapter, as you’ll notice, it’s WAY better quality. I dunno how she does it, but she turns my regular ol’ dumpster-fires into actually readable work. 

Things had been rocky with North for so long, that Markus sometimes wondered if things had _ever_ been good between them. That wasn’t to say he didn’t love being with North; when things were good, things were _really_ good. Everything felt _perfect_ , like he could do anything with her at his side. It was just that, when things were anything _less_ than perfect…

 

Markus had always shrugged that feeling off. North was somebody who knew little by way of peace, even less by way of compromise and he had since accepted that about her. But then there was the case of Simon.

 

It confused Markus, sometimes, how he felt about Simon. When he’d left him on the rooftop of Stratford tower, everything had felt _wrong._ He was restless; the very idea that Simon was dead slowly eating away at him. But then - Simon had shown up in Jericho, _alive_. His face was bloody, and he looked like he wanted to say something, but he had stayed silent. Markus was hit with a wave of relief so strong his knees went weak.

 

He felt nauseous when he finally hugged Simon, so nervous he thought it might kill him. He’d feared it was some fucked up hallucination, a mark that his programming was thoroughly broken and that he’d _really_ lost his mind... But he felt so _safe_ when he was embraced by the other android that he couldn’t bring himself to care.

 

It was almost as though Simon was the very embodiment of everything North wasn’t. He was relaxed, with a serene smile and a gentle voice. While he was a worrier, that never stopped him from being the gentle hand that pulled Markus back down to Earth whenever Markus was at his most frazzled.

 

He didn’t  feel the same safety with North. There was still a sense of walking on eggshells with her - there had been since he sided with Josh. But no matter how bad it got with North, he could always just go to Simon, and suddenly everything would be better. He ought to have just moved in with Simon, really, with the sheer amount of time Markus found himself spending time lounging around the small apartment.

 

He didn’t really understand why, but he also found that he often had the strange urge to touch Simon, an urge he occasionally indulged. It didn’t hurt that Simon never rejected a hug, never shrugged Markus’ hand off his shoulder, or got annoyed by his occasional affectionate nudge; quite the contrary, Simon seemed to enjoy them just as much as Markus did.

 

At one point, in Simon's living room, Markus’ arms hung lazily over the back of the couch, his conversation with Simon having slowed to a crawl, before stopping entirely. He’d sat silently for a second, watching the fuzzy, unfocused look in Simon’s eyes, noticing his friends brows furrow and lips curl slightly into a frown.

 

Markus shifted a little closer to Simon, leaning forward in hopes that he’d snap out of it. This had happened a few times in Markus’ memory, but the more often it happened, the more worried he got.

 

“Simon? You good?” Markus waved his hand in front of Simon's face. There was no reaction.

 

_Fuck does he have a virus or something?_

 

“Simon? Simon!” Markus snapped his fingers a couple of times, the sound startling his friend out of his haze. “You’ve been really out of it lately, are you okay?”

 

“I’m fine!” Simon squeaked out, a slight bluish blush creeping across his face.

 

Markus wanted to laugh a little, he found the exaggerated reaction of his friend strangely amusing. He leaned back into the other end of the couch, giving his friend some breathing room. He raised an eyebrow at Simon - Simon wasn’t a very good liar. “Really?”

 

“ _Yes,_ ” Simon insisted, “Really.”

 

The image of Simon; arms crossed, face slightly flush, attempting to glare Markus down, actually did pull a snort from him, “Sure you are.” The thought crossed his mind quickly, _Simon’s so cute._

 

_..._

 

_Wait, what?_

 

He turned away from Simon, faced forward once again, having thoroughly confused himself. He looked back at the other android, “If you wanna talk about it, we can.”

 

Simon didn’t answer, and Markus frowned a little. He wouldn’t _push_ Simon to talk about it, but he couldn’t help but feel annoyed that Simon never told him anything. He told Simon _everything._ Simon was his rock, and it often felt like all Markus did was take.

 

Markus ignored the feeling, if Simon didn’t want to talk, it wasn’t like he Markus had the ability to make him.

 

* * *

 

Things with North got worse in the weeks following that. His patience for her generally argumentative attitude wore thinner and until he finally just snapped.

 

“I don’t think this is working out.”

 

The words cut through the air of North’s apartment like a knife, and though she stood shocked for a moment, she nodded. “You’re right.”

 

And that was that. He stood up from his place at her kitchen table, pulled on his coat, and left without another word. They’d work through the rest of it later, but until then, Markus’ needed to clear his head. He let his legs carry him almost instinctively towards Simon’s home, all the while letting his thoughts roll around in his head and fester.

 

Simon had been falling in and out of relationships recently,and Markus couldn’t put his finger on why, but it royally pissed him off. The first guy - some TR400 named Jason - wasn’t really serious, he’d only found out about them after Simon had broken it off after only a few weeks. The next couple guys after that - Paul, Liam, Reese - they were all month-long flings at _most_.

 

He couldn’t really figure out _why_ he’d been keeping such close tabs on Simon’s relationships, but he was. What was worse was that it didn’t matter who they were, what they did, what they were like, Markus just couldn’t bring himself to be happy for Simon. He couldn’t help it, as his thoughts continued to circle back to every reason why the androids in question didn’t deserve Simon.

 

The newest guy, though... _Jonah._ Simon had been seeing for nearly three months. And the worst bit? Markus couldn’t really find any reason to hate him. Jonah had a stable job, he was incredibly sweet, he liked all the same music and books as Simon, he got on well with Simon’s other friends...  Hell, if Markus didn’t irrationally hate the poor guy, he’d be all for Simon continuing seeing him. Worse still, unlike the other guys, Markus couldn’t even claim to himself that Jonah was just in it for the sex; he was so _painfully_ obviously into Simon that Markus actually felt guilty for hating him.

 

But that didn’t stop him.

 

He shook his head as he stepped out of the elevator and onto Simon’s floor, it wasn’t his business who Simon dated - hell, this Jonah guy and Simon weren’t even really official yet, at least as far as Markus knew.

 

Simon welcomed him with open arms, as he always did, and Markus carefully avoided bringing up that he’d broken things off with North. Simon seemed to be preoccupied with something else, anyways.

 

There was a lull in the conversation, Markus awkwardly cleared his throat.

 

“So… You and Jonah, huh?” Markus cringed, inwardly.

 

_God, it’s so obvious I hate him._

 

“Uh… Yes? What about me and Jonah?” Simon said, arms crossed, and visibly annoyed by Markus’ question. Markus cursed himself for even asking.

 

Markus leaned back against the countertop, hoping that he’d be able to mask how fucking _stupid_ he felt. “Are you two together, now?”

 

“Well… We haven’t really discussed it.”

 

Markus felt a wave of irritation wash over him. _This asshole has been with Simon for months, and you're telling me he hasn’t brought it up?_

 

He nodded, reminding himself once more that _this wasn’t his business._ “You two seem… Happy together.”

 

“I guess.”

 

“So you two aren’t?” Markus almost hoped Simon would say _yes,_ so he could jump on telling him to just stop seeing this guy, but once again, he reminded himself of this _not being his fucking business._

 

“No! No… It’s not that. I just…” Simon sighed, almost defeated, “I don’t know.”

 

Markus hummed, willing himself not to snap, willing himself not to turn around and ask Simon why the fuck he was _with_ some guy that wouldn’t just make a damn move already.

 

There was a few moments of silence that felt like it dragged on for far too long, Markus let his irritation settle before he spoke up again.

 

“Wanna go for a walk?”

 

Simon jumped on the opportunity, seemingly anxious to be moving, “Yeah… I think that’d be nice.”

 

Simon tossed Markus his coat, appearing to be at ease, and Markus put it on as his friend - why did that title bother him so much, all of a sudden? - held the door for him.

 

He shoved his hands into his pocket, taking up his usual march with a bit more force than necessary.

 

Hopefully the walk would clear his head a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come talk to me on [Tumblr](https://parttwoactuallywrites.tumblr.com/)! I’d love to hear suggestions/requests/concrit/otherwise talk to you beautiful people :D


	3. Snowfall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnd that’s a wrap! Here y’all go, the end to this trash-fire. This last chapter was inspired heavily by [rebelflet’s](http://rebelflet.tumblr.com) super adorable [comic](https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard/blog/rebelflet/175547725350)! Specifically [these](https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard/blog/rebelflet/175573924255) [two](https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard/blog/rebelflet/175604764295) chapters. They are a dash-only blog so you do need to be signed into tumblr to check them out.
> 
> Go read it. Seriously, not joking, it’s really good. The coloring’s fantastic and rebelflet is a fantastic artist in general. 
> 
> Once again, thank you to my beta [loracarol](https://archiveofourown.org/users/loracarol/pseuds/loracarol) for being the single greatest human.

Simon kept his distance during the unnecessarily brisk walk towards Riverside Park. He trailed behind Markus the entire time, and a rather bitter part of him wanted to laugh at that. He’d been trailing after Markus since the RK200 showed up to Jericho. He took a few slightly larger steps, catching up to Markus and walking at his side as they approached the park. The park itself was quiet; for the most part, nobody tended to walk around there late at night. Simon detested the silence. 

 

He still wasn’t sure what he had been hoping for when he agreed go for a walk. He’d figured that the sights and sounds of the city would make a decent distraction from his thoughts. Unfortunately, the city  _ did  _ sleep, impossible as it was to believe. Besides, Simon  _ knew _ Detroit - had only  _ ever _ known Detroit. What noises were still present faded into the background, despite his original hopes.

 

Simon tried to think of anything but himself and how he was feeling, chancing a glance at Markus. He seemed… Angry, almost. Irritable. Simon didn’t want to pry, but there was clearly something that was still bothering him, something that he had yet to say. 

 

“Rowan, you asshole!” A voice shouted suddenly from somewhere nearby. The voice held no aggression; instead it was filled with mirth, as a hearty laugh poured from whoever they were. 

 

Simon’s eyes snapped to the source of the sound. It was a young couple playing out in the snow together. 

 

The shorter of the two had picked up the taller one before tossing him gently into a snowbank. In retaliation, the taller one caught the shorter’s arm, dragging him down for a kiss as they both tumbled into the snow. 

 

“Oh, so  _ I’m  _ the asshole? Was I the one throwing people into snow banks?” Rowan said, laughing as well. 

 

The short one stood up, once again lifting his partner, but this time, he seemed to have no intentions of letting go. Their fingers interlaced, as their full, merry laughter slowly diminished to slight giggles, before fading off entirely. 

 

The skin on their hands had disappeared, their foreheads were pressed together. Simon didn’t notice, but he had stopped walking, frozen in place and staring at the couple who didn’t seem to notice or care. 

 

His fist tightened up at his side, and a surge of jealousy stabbed at him, one thought echoing in his mind;  _ Lucky kids.  _

 

* * *

 

Markus was acutely aware of the distance between himself and Simon. Simon never walked anywhere but right next to him, even when their walks were silent as that one. They never stopped communicating, even if neither of them spoke. There was, at least from what Markus noticed, a constant analysis of one by the other; how either might walk, or hold their head, or what would catch their attention - none of it went unnoticed. 

 

So Simon’s particularly daydreamy state didn’t either. 

 

Even when Simon had moved a little quicker and ended up walking in stride with Markus, he seemed to be stuck in a haze, thinking about something that Markus wanted to help with, even if he couldn’t.

 

But it was clear he had no intention of telling Markus what was getting to him, and Markus found himself profoundly irritated by that fact. Markus couldn’t even be bothered to hide how uncomfortable and upset he was, Simon was stuck in a dream world far enough away that the RK200 was fairly certain the other android wouldn’t notice.

 

Markus was trying to gauge the full extent of Simon’s daydream-state when Simon just… Stopped walking. 

 

Markus turned around, concerned, though that concerned turned to confusion, then fascination when he realized Simon was just staring at the laughing couple.

 

Despite the couples boisterous laughing, Markus found it hard to tear his eyes from Simon, who watched them with an intent Markus couldn’t place. 

 

His eyes flicked from Simon to the couple, catching what Simon must’ve been staring at - the shorter one had picked up the taller man and they were holding hands. The false-skin on their hands had disappeared, revealing the white plastic beneath. They were connected, and the laughing he’d heard earlier had since died down as they shared something deeper. 

 

His gaze moved back to Simon. Simon was tense, and his fists were clenched at his side. The simulated epidermis on his hand was flickering, phasing in and out of existence. Markus, completely on instinct, reached out and grabbed Simons hand, his own skin having already faded away. 

 

He was hit with a storm. 

 

Markus felt like he was drowning, like he was _dying,_ but he couldn't find the will to breathe. He felt jealousy and guilt and there was this soul-crushing _emptiness_ ; the feeling of being swallowed whole by a need for something he could never have. The words “I love you” were a constant murmur in the background, as images of himself flashed before him, all seen with a rose colored lens.

 

Suddenly, he’s with Simon - he  _ is  _ Simon - and he’s fucking terrified. 

 

* * *

 

_ He’d managed to slip away from the FBI under the cover of darkness, his leg still wasn’t functioning, a dead weight he had to drag along as he moved in slow, lumbering steps.  _

 

_ He wasn’t quite in pain, per se, but warning messages came up regularly enough to start bothering him: he was losing thirium. He slinked around the side streets and back-alleys of Detroit, desperate to get to Jericho once more, or at least die somewhere he would never be found.  _

 

_ The junkyard came to mind - not a bad place to start if he needed spare parts. _

 

_ Suddenly he was in Jericho, with the vague memory of having stolen a new leg from a long-dead android in the scrap yard, and an even blurrier one of having shut down for a few hours before waking up in a tizzy to return to his makeshift home.  _

 

_ Then he was walking the hallways of the ship, when he ran into Markus in that corridor. The sight of him felt like first day of summer after a lifetime of bleak winter - warm, almost to the point of burning him. He wanted to be angry, to be bitter, to look at him and feel the contempt of someone who was left to die, but he didn’t. _

 

_ He opened his mouth to speak, to say something, but he wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted to say. _

 

_ ‘Why did you leave me?’ came to mind, followed by ‘hey, Markus’ which he found profoundly stupid given the situation, but oddly fitting for their relationship, and then, startlingly, ‘I missed you.’ _

 

_ He settled on saying nothing, he wasn’t sure his voice would stay steady anyways.  _

 

_ Markus pulled Simon into an embrace, and his mind had finally made itself up. He had his suspicions before but now it was almost painfully clear, he’d fallen in love with Markus. Again, he was tempted to say something, tempted to speak up and tell Markus exactly what had happened, but he didn’t.  _

 

_ He figured Markus had enough to worry about, enough to think of that wasn’t Simon and his feelings.  _

 

After the revolution _ , He decided,  _ I’ll tell him after the revolution _. _

 

* * *

 

Markus jerked away as though Simon’s touch burned him, stumbling backwards slightly at the sheer force of everything he felt. He touched his cheek, there was a steady stream of tears running down his face. 

 

He was brought back to the real world abruptly, the park was once again silent, the couple from before seemingly long gone. He didn’t dare check how long they’d been standing there

 

“Simon what...?” Markus trailed off, too shocked - too  _ confused _ to form a proper sentence. 

 

Simon took a few steps backwards, cradling his hand against his chest. His eyes were wide and glassy with tears as he gazed back at Markus, staring with something that could only be described as absolute mortification. 

 

“I’m sorry- It’s just- I-”

 

Markus reached for Simon, the skin of his hand still deactivated, his eyes searching, “Don’t… Don’t apologize. I just… It’s…” He caught Simon’s shoulder, pulling him close for a hug. 

 

Simon stood stock still for a moment, before quickly returning the hug. Markus laughed a little as the relief washed over him. 

 

He’d finally figured it out.

 

Markus offered his hand to connect again, and Simon gingerly took it. Markus wasn’t entirely sure what to think of, what he wanted to give to Simon to feel on the other end of the connection, but he hoped the message came across. 

 

* * *

 

Simon took Markus’ hand, bracing himself  to be rejected in full, but found himself shocked at the  _ warmth  _ that flowed through the connection. 

 

It was like sinking into a warm bath - an almost nostalgic sort of love - the safety of his apartment living room feeling closer to  _ home  _ than nearly anything else ever had.

 

No particular memories flowed through. Instead there were snippets of things; emotions, scenes, thoughts... There were clips of Simon’s laughter, the image of him speaking to a dying android, his low, whispering voice the very beacon of hope, memory after  _ memory _ of Simon’s smile... And then their time at the park; the discomfort Markus had felt as Simon walked behind him.

 

Then came the irritation, the annoyance, the  _ jealousy.  _ Every man Simon had been with in the months prior, all pre-packaged with some harsh judgement. 

 

_ Reese doesn’t have a steady job, he’s broke and just using Simon for a place to stay. _

 

_ Paul is an asshole, his jokes aren’t funny and he never seems to care if Simon’s uncomfortable. What a dick.  _

 

_ Liam has the personality of a cardboard box, and has exactly nothing in common with Simon. Plus he’s kind of ugly.  _

 

_ Jonah… I fucking hate that guy.  _

 

The jealousy felt like a mirror to his own, flaring up at it’s worse when Markus caught Simon and Jonah together. He felt the  _ guilt  _ that came with it, too, the feeling that this poor Jonah guy didn’t deserve his constant hatred. 

 

Then, the admittance so soft that it might’ve been drowned out by the whistling winds,  _ I think I’m in love with you.  _

 

Simon pulled his hand away. 

 

* * *

 

“It’s just like after you came back, huh?” Markus said, after a long pause of silence. 

 

“I’m sorry you had to see all that.” 

 

“Don’t be, don’t be. I just… I wish I hadn’t left you up there.” 

 

“You did what you had to.” 

 

The snow had started to come down well before either had really taken notice, they were covered in a light dusting when it finally caught Simon’s attention. He gently swept off the snow that had built up on Markus’ shoulders. 

 

“Wow… It’s cold out here, huh?” Simon said, after they finally pulled apart. He scratched at the back of his neck, smiling awkwardly. 

 

Markus raised an eyebrow to Simon, smirking slightly. “I mean, it’s 3:28 AM, in Michigan, in January, I don’t know what you were expecting.”

 

Simon shrugged. “Wanna go home?” 

 

“Yeah, let’s.” 

 

Markus turned around to walk off, assuming Simon would follow, when something cold and wet slid down his back. He yelped, a high and undignified sound, and when he turned around, he found Simon doubled over with laughter. 

 

“The  _ sound  _ you just made! That was priceless!” 

 

“Why you little…” Markus picked Simon up, rearing back slightly as he tossed Simon gently into the snow bank beside the path. 

 

“Hey! What the hell was that for?” Simon’s tone held no anger, no stress, he was still grinning. 

 

“Payback!” Markus shouted, finally giving into the laughter when Simon balled up a snowball and threw it at him, hitting him square in the face.

 

They had more they would need to talk about, but it all could wait. Hell, none of it even came to mind as they played in the snow together. The joy, the relief, and the cleared tension were all-consuming.

 

The park wouldn’t fall silent again for quite awhile, the sounds of the slow beginnings of blizzard and laughter would float through for hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another fast shout-out to [rebelflet](rebelflet.tumblr.com) for inspiring this. Check out my [tumblr](https://parttwoactuallywrites.tumblr.com/), if you wanna! I’d love to hear what you thought about the story, and any concrit is more than welcome. I’m thinking of posting my own thoughts over there, I’ll put a link to it here if I do.
> 
> (If you’re wondering, Rowan belongs to [this](http://infcdele.tumblr.com/) wondrous cutie, and is actually an rp character!) 

**Author's Note:**

> Why don’t you kiddies come bother me on [Tumblr](https://parttwoactuallywrites.tumblr.com/)? The ask box is always open for critique, requests, screaming about how cute this ship is, all that stuff. 
> 
> Concrit is always welcome, do let me know what you think so far :D


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